Halloween: Ronin Style
by emeraldteardrops
Summary: It's Halloween! Rowen's drunk, Nikki's an angel, and...where's the rest of Mia's clothes?


A/N Storyline-wise this is from before CTJ, during the time period the flashbacks come from. Sorry it's a day late, but it ended up being longer than I had planned.

Halloween: Ronin Style

It was Halloween night and Mia stood in front of her bathroom mirror with a look of consternation on her face, trying desperately to tug the tan suede dress she wore down far enough that she didn't feel like her rear end was falling out. Unfortunately every time it bordered the realm of decency, the neckline of the outfit plunged dangerously, causing her to yank it back up quickly. Mia slumped in defeat, knowing that this was going to be one of "those" nights.

It really wasn't fair; all she had been trying to do was be nice. Rowen had insisted on this little get together, because for some reason he just loved the American holiday. He had looked so cute when he had begged her to let them throw the party at her house, blue hair bobbing as he bounced around the rooms explaining just how awesome the manor would look covered in spider webs and filled with smoke. Mia had kept from agreeing for a full five minutes, but then he promised he would go with her to that convention next month and she'd caved instantly. Thinking back on it now, Mia realized that in her enthusiasm to get a companion on what promised to be a dull and painful merging of the scientific mind, she had condemned herself to a fate even worse. Mia looked in the mirror at her scant and inappropriately revealing costume. It was just like Rowen to get her an Amazon costume. The only part of her that was decent was where her hair covered her back, and there was no time to change. There was no costume to change into, and she could hear Rowen enthusiastically greeting people downstairs.

This wasn't going to be a good night.

The sound of footsteps outside of her door made Mia start and try to cover herself. A light knock came and then Nikki's voice through the wood.

"Hey, Mia? Are you about ready? Almost everyone is here." Mia darted across the room and jerked open the door, looking furtively into the hall before grabbing her friend's arm and jerking her back inside. Nikki had donned a long white robe that covered her from throat to ankle with angel wings glued to her back, and she looked startled at Mia's odd behavior. Then she noticed Mia's outfit. Understanding dawned in Nikki's brown eyes and she started laughing. Mia glared at her.

"Stop laughing and help me fix this!" Mia snapped, turning around so that Nikki could see just how short the dress really was. Nikki was no help. As soon as she saw just how much of Mia's butt was almost showing, she stumbled to the bed and sat down, laughing so hard tears came from her eyes.

"Nikki!" Mia cried, "Stop it! You're supposed to be my friend. And I don't know what to do! I don't have anything else to wear, unless I want to go down there in a business suit or a towel! Rowen was supposed to get me a costume, but this isn't a costume. It's..it's…" Mia stuttered off indignantly.

"Slutty?" Nikki provided. The look Mia gave her made Nikki collapse back, laughing even harder as the red head stomped back into her bathroom and started throwing wadded up towels in the other girl's direction. Nikki ducked the third towel and jumped off the bed, sticking her head into the bathroom.

"Oh come on, Mia," she said, trying to be encouraging. "You're pretty. You can pull off slutty with the best of them."

But Mia was beyond caring. She looked in the mirror, disgusted. "I'm not wearing this," she declared. "I'll just stay up here until everyone goes away. Or else I'll wear jeans. I'm not wearing this."

Nikki looked down sheepishly and muttered something under her breath.

"What?" Mia asked sharply. Nikki looked back up, her eyes glinting in amusement even as she blushed.

"I said you have to."

"Why is that?" Mia demanded. "This is my house. I can do anything I want."

"Cause…"

"Cause what?"

"Cause Rowen and I have a bet. We saw that costume at the store and he wanted me to get it. And you know I can't pull off that look. I'd need to grow five inches and lose 15 pounds. But I said you'd look great in it. He bet me two hundred American dollars that you wouldn't wear that to the party, and I bet him you would. So you have to." Nikki smiled at her brightly. Mia rolled her eyes in disgust.

"Nikki. I'll give you two hundred bucks right now just so I can take this thing off."

"Ummm…" Nikki started again.

"What Nikki? What did you do?" Mia pressed, her displeasure growing. Nikki coughed and looked away.

"I bet all the other guys too."

"You what?!"

"Oh come on Mia!" Nikki cried, moving to the redhead's side and pointing at her. "Look at you! You're a hottie! You walk down there wearing this and it's going to knock everyone's socks off. Plus think about how great it'll feel to prove all those guys wrong."

Mia swatted at the finger pointing unceremoniously at her chest and put her hands on her hips. The action managed to pull the dress both up and down at the same time. Mia squeaked and jerked it both ways at once.

"How much money do you have riding on this, Nik?" Mia growled.

"Oh, I don't know…counting Sage I'd say it's close to a thousand…"

"Sage?" Mia yelped. "_Sage_ bet on me? Gentleman my ass."

"Oh don't be mad, Mia. Ryo and Kento pushed him into it," Nikki said offhandedly, applying some lipstick as she watched Mia intently out of the corner of her eye. Mia's pretty eyes had narrowed dangerously.

"Ryo and Kento?" she asked in a too calm tone.

Nikki nodded. "They don't think you'll make it to the stairs. Ryo doesn't think you'll make it out of the room."

Mia straightened, this time ignoring the movements of her dress.

"Nikki?" Nikki looked up expectantly. "Get me the scissors."

Nikki squealed happily and darted out of the bathroom, bringing back in a pair of sewing shears.

"You're sharing that money half and half," Mia informed her as the first strip of cloth fell to the floor.

-----

"She's not coming down," Rowen smirked at Cye, taking a long drink of his beer as he waited down in the foyer. Cye just rolled his eyes at his friend, absently touching his face to push back one stray dreadlock. Oddly enough the usually mellow and restrained Ronin of Torrent had chosen to dress as a rapper, and seeing him walk around in sagging jeans with his boxers hanging out, tight white tee shirt, and heavy gold chains was mildly disconcerting.

Rowen looked slightly out of place among the brightly colored costumes. Instead of something flashy, he was wearing a pair of tan slacks, a button down white shirt, and a blue sports blazer. He had spent a good hour arranging his hair just so, and it had been worth the effort when Sage had looked at him, his face disgusted as he realized Rowen's choice of costume. Rowen had insisted on leaning against every wall he was near, his arms folded and his blue hair gelled over one eye. Sage had been so irritated that he had left the room every time Rowen showed up. That seemed to satisfy Rowen immensely for some reason.

Ostensibly Rowen had taken the job of greeting the many guests that milled around the spookily decorated manor, but in reality he just wanted a view of the stairs. He had gathered himself a plate of snacks and stood munching happily, a self satisfied expression on his face. From her seat near both men, Cassie smiled a private little smile. Unlike everyone else except for Rowen, her clothes seemed to be normal clothes, but she had tied a blindfold across her already unseeing eyes.

"Don't be so sure about that, Rowen," the blonde said. "Nikki's involved and when Nikki's involved, you usually don't end up winning."

Cye grinned at Rowen's frown. "She's right you know," Cye replied. "Nikki usually figures out a way around you."

"Of course you take _their_ side," Rowen muttered. Cye just cocked an eyebrow at him. Rowen checked his watch and brightened. "They only have ten minutes left. The bet was that Mia would be downstairs by nine o'clock, and I don't care what you say. Not even Nikki could get our good sweet little Mia down in that outfit."

"Don't forget I bet with you," Cye murmured. Cassie snorted and stood up. Cye moved to help her but she stopped him with an upraised hand.

"I'm fine," the blind girl said. "Plus I hate to see you disappointed, Rowen." She smiled brightly in his direction.

"Cassie, how can you see me disappointed? You could hear me disappointed, or sense me disappointed, but you can't 'see' me. Don't you know it throws me off when you use words like that?" Rowen grumbled. "Plus what are dressed up as anyways? You look normal."

"Gee Rowen," she said innocently. "I thought it would be obvious."

"Not really," he replied. Cassie leaned in close, until her lips almost brushed his ear.

"I'm a blind girl," she whispered. Rowen stared at her. Cassie just grinned lightly, patting Rowen sympathetically on the top of the head before moving off.

"Hey!" Rowen sputtered after her. "That's cheating you know! You can't go dressed as what you are, Cass." She ignored his last attempt at a retort, even though he knew she could hear him. Rowen shook his head in irritation.

"Why do I get the feeling she's always laughing at me, Cye?" Rowen asked sourly. Cye watched Cassie make her way carefully through the crowd, noting how she never failed to pause right before bumping into someone, a fond expression on his face.

"That's because she always is, Rowen," Cye replied in amusement.

"Can't you keep her in check?" Rowen asked. Cye looked at him incredulously.

"You mean the way you keep Nikki in check?"

"I keep Nikki in check," Rowen declared. Ryo, dressed in a bizarre combination of baggy black and white clothing, had chosen that moment to join the other two, and he snorted at Rowen's words. Cye looked confused as he read the large white lettering on Ryo's shirt, spelling '**DING**'. He looked like he was about to ask, then thought better of it and ate a cracker instead. Rowen's face went even more sour but his eyes remained on his watch.

"Five minutes, guys. Then poor little Nik is going to have to pay up."

-----

Cassie moved into the living room, mentally counting her steps as the people milled around her. No one here really knew who she was, so for as far as they knew, the careful steps of the girl in the blindfold were all part of the costume. In a way it made her feel like she didn't stand out in the crowd so much, and privately she admitted she liked that. As much as she might like to tease the guys and how open she had become with Mia and Nikki, Cassie had always been pretty quiet and shy. Having more than one or two friends at a time could be a little overwhelming to her. She hid her shyness with secretive smiles and knowing expressions, which never failed to get Rowen riled up, but those who knew her best saw through it.

A brightening of Cassie's ever-present darkness in the corner brought another smile to her lips, this one open and happy. Sage hadn't spent very much time at the manor lately, showing up when the guys needed him for fights but finding excuses to be elsewhere when their enemy fell back for a while. Secretly she had worried if he had been mad at her, for Sage seemed to avoid her especially. But now the brightness was moving towards her, and she turned her face upwards into that radiating warmth as it stopped in front of her. A strong hand gently took her elbow, guiding her through the rest of the crowd to an empty seat in the corner.

"So what are you dressed as?" she asked the tall man, settling down into the plush seat comfortably. From the noise there were obviously a lot of people there and Sage had to sit on the armrest of her chair, leaning over to be heard without shouting.

"You really don't want to know," Sage replied, sounding a trifle pecky. Cye had explained the reason why the blonde man was out of sorts this evening, so Cassie carefully schooled her amusement from her face.

"May I?" she asked, raising one hand up a little.

Silence, then a murmured, "Why not?" Cassie reached out to touch Sage's arm. Then she couldn't help but giggle as she touched something furry.

"What are you?" she asked, running her hand up his hairy arm until she reached his shoulder. Heavy pads had been strapped to his chest and shoulders. Cassie rapped them, making a hollow noise. "What is this?"

"It's a breastplate. And stop hitting me please, it feels weird."

"Breastplate? If you're a warrior than why are your arms so furry?"

"Just let it go Cass," Sage muttered.

"Oh, I get it," she smiled. "Rowen picked your costume up for you too, huh?"

"Last time that happens," came the responding growl. "You think you can trust a guy…"

"Sage, dear," Cassie admonished, a clever and knowing smile on her face. "I thought you were brighter than that."

"You're a brat," Sage said, but Cassie could tell that he was starting to become amused as well. They sat quietly for a moment, then something caught Sage's attention.

"Oh my," Sage suddenly murmured, voice sounding shocked and just a bit scandalized.

"What?" Cassie asked curiously. Then something clicked and she started laughing. "Can you see the stairs from here Sage?"

Sage's lack of response was response enough.

"Can you see Rowen?"

"Yes."

"Can you see Mia?"

"Ye…yes," Sage managed to get out. Cassie grabbed onto his arm, a mischievous smile on her pretty face.

"Tell me what's going on," she said, with a little more enthusiasm than the Ronin was comfortable with. Still, Sage began to describe what was happening in the other room, Cassie hanging onto his arm and his every word.

-----

When Nikki flounced down the stairs with a triumphant grin splitting her face and only two minutes to spare, all four guys knew that they had lost. What they hadn't planned was what Mia had done to her little Amazon outfit. Cye took one look at her as she descended behind Nikki and started choking on his cracker. Rowen whistled appreciatively, eyes widening. Ryo's jaw hit the floor, his handsome face turning beet red. You really couldn't blame him. For all intents and purposes the beautiful redhead was practically naked, with small portions of tan fabric barely covering certain things that now seemed to be thrusting out in the guys' faces. It wasn't that they were unaware of Mia having…assets, but they'd never seen her flaunt them before. Even sweet Cye was staring openmouthed at Mia's chest, and Ryo had turned almost crimson. Mia smiled sweetly at him, placing one hand on her hip. The motion jostled her outfit and Ryo seemed to have stopped breathing. Rowen elbowed him hard in the side, and Ryo let out an explosive breath.

"Happy Halloween boys," Mia said smugly. "Sorry I was almost late, but I had to make a few adjustments to my outfit. You like?" She smiled sweetly and spun around to give them a better look. Unfortunately half way through the spin the leaf necklace she was wearing fell off.

"Opps!" Mia said, bending over and picking it up. No one moved to help her and they said nothing, gaping openmouthed. Poor Kento had chosen that moment to come out from the kitchen, almost running directly into the bent over redhead. He skidded to a stop, wearing clothing similar to Ryo's, and he stared in shock. His hands had automatically come up in front of him when he almost bumped into her. Kento stared at Mia as she straightened and smiled innocently. Then he stared down at his still upraised hands, not all that far from her...self. Finally his face went pale and he spun on his heel, dashing back into the kitchen. He shoved some money in Nikki's hand as he fled.

"What's wrong with him?" Mia asked in mock confusion.

"You feeling okay, Kento?" Nikki called after him with a devilish smile. In the kitchen they could hear a couple bangs followed by a string of curses. Mia turned back to the guys and smiled again.

"So, you guys ready for the party?" she asked in a mischievous tone.

-----

They had fought Anubis and the Warlords. They had fought Kayura. They had fought Talpa twice. Half of them had even been taken prisoner and tortured in the Nether Realm. But nothing had ever prepared them for this. It was so very _wrong_…

"Dude, that is so wrong," Ryo muttered to Rowen. Rowen nodded but his eyes were bright in amusement as he watched the scene unfolding on the dance floor. If he didn't know better he would have thought Mia was drunk, the way she flaunted herself around like this. If she insisted on wearing that scrap of an outfit, she should remain standing in one spot, preferably in the corner where no one could see her, and even more preferably with a blanket wrapped around her. But no, Mia insisted on dancing and jumping and laughing, each action that made her jiggle and bounce and cause the other guys in the room to focus entirely on her. Even Rowen, who found the whole thing pretty funny actually, was getting tired of flexing his muscles at the men that kept swarming Mia and Nikki. Because really, did they have to hit on Nikki too? Just cause she was best friends with a naked girl wasn't any excuse too…

"Dude that is so wrong!" Ryo repeated, his face blushing and slightly anguished. "We have to stop her…them. I can't watch this anymore! Mia is like a sister, and this is like…like…" Ryo trailed off.

"Incest?" Rowen provided, arching an eyebrow. Ryo glared at him, making Rowen chuckle out loud. But Ryo was right, this was getting out of hand. And was that…in her hand?…Oh lord. Someone had given Mia alcohol.

"Yeah, you're right," Rowen agreed. "But do you want to tell her she's not allowed to look like this in her own house at her own party?"

Ryo face grew even more anguished. Then he looked at his costume, shaking his head. "Where is Kento?" he asked, trying to change subjects. "My costume's pretty dumb without him here, too."

"I think he's off hiding in the kitchen. Why don't you try to lure him out?" Rowen suggested. "Meanwhile I'll try to, ah, contain this a little." In the background Mia's laughter echoed, sounding just a bit tipsy.

"Good," Ryo muttered, flushing as Mia started dancing again. "Good. I'll be…Kento…" he spun and left the room. A huge grin split Rowen's face as from across the room, Nikki looked over and caught his eye. She had a superior smile on her face as she danced near her friend. Rowen swaggered towards the makeshift dance floor, forgetting for the moment that he was supposed to act like Sage. Nikki rolled her eyes as he reached them. Rowen winked at her and threw his arms around both her and Mia's shoulders.

"Hellooooo, ladies."

-----

"Kento come out."

"I think I'm good here, Ryo."

"But the party's out there, Kento."

"Yeah, not feeling to party-ish today. Must be coming down with the flu."

"Kento come on, the party's halfway over. Plus I look stupid without your costume here too."

"Fine, Ryo. But for the record, I have food and beer and television in here, and I was perfectly happy."

Finally Kento immerged from the kitchen, a bottle of beer in one hand. Like Ryo, he was dressed in large black and white clothing, but across the front of his shirt, he had written the word '**DONG**'. Together, they wandered around, idly chatting with other guests. The party had taken a relatively drunken turn, and more often or not, guests would stagger past, laughing hysterically with each other. Kento didn't look impressed. Ryo wondered about his friend, who normally jumped on any chance to celebrate. But then again, the whole team had been going through some tough times, and had been fighting for a long time now, so it wasn't bizarre that it was taking it's toll on Kento's fun-loving spirit. Speaking of fun-loving spirit, where was Rowen?

"Where's Rowen?" Kento asked, echoing Ryo's thoughts.

"I thought he was right here…Oh no." Ryo's face went red once again.

"What?" Kento asked, before turning and looking in the direction that Ryo was. His face colored like Ryo's, and he looked pretty pissed.

"What the hell does he think he's doing?" Cye suddenly growled, coming up behind the other two.

The three moved as one.

-----

At this point Cassie was laughing hysterically at Sage's commentary. He seemed almost as amused as he spoke what he saw.

"Okay, so they just spotted Rowen and they look really mad," Sage said.

"What's Rowen doing?" Cassie asked through a giggle.

"He's got his arm around both girls and he's shaking his butt back and forth between the two of them. He just stole Nikki's beer and is chugging it. She's jumping up and down trying to get it back and Mia hit him on the shoulder. Oh no, Rowen! Don't do that!" Sage suddenly started laughing.

"What?! What's he doing, Sage?!"

"Rowen just picked both girls up and is swinging them around in circles. Mia's almost falling out of her shirt-nope she just fell out. No, Rowen! Don't! Okay, so Rowen just noticed and decided to be helpful. He had his arms full with swinging them around so he put his head on Mia's chest and shoved her chest back into her top with his ear. Now Nikki's hitting him even harder and Mia's laughing hysterically. She must be completely smashed, Cass!"

Whatever happened next rendered Sage speechless, as he bent over and laughed harder than she had ever heard him. He didn't seem capable of speaking. But Cassie's ears worked very well, and she could hear in the distance the sounds of Ryo and Cye yelling, and Rowen yelping in pain.

"Sage! Talk, darn it!" Cassie demanded, thumping him on the knee.

"Okay, okay," he gasped. "Kento and Cye just rescued the girls, and Ryo just grabbed Rowen by the hair. He drug him over to that big apple barrel they set up, you know the one for bobbing for apples? Ryo shoved him head first into the barrel, and Rowen couldn't get away, so he started grabbing apples from under water and lobbing them up at Ryo's face. One hit Ryo straight in the forehead, so Ryo picked him up and shoved him up to his waist in the water. And poor Kento! He was the one that grabbed Mia away from Rowen, and I guess Rowen wasn't able to get her chest back into her shirt. He took one look at her and bolted. I think he's heading back to the kitchen, and he looks like he's muttering to himself. Poor guy. That might've been more than he could take. Ryo just let Rowen out of the water and both him and Cye are trying to get Mia's chest back in, and she seems to think it's funny and keeps laughing every time they try to help her without touching her. Okay, Nikki just rescued her. And poor Rowen is standing by the barrel, drenching wet."

"Sage," Cassie stated, with a huge grin on her face, "This just might have made the last horrible three months worthwhile."

-----

The party was winding down. Guests left, although many who had driven there themselves had to be convinced to take a taxi. Rowen was only slightly drunk as he raided the food table one last time. He stood there munching happily on a broken cookie, wondering just how long ago the smoke machine stopped pumping out smoke. He'd sort of stopped paying attention. He didn't know where the other guys were, but he was pretty sure they would be heading for bed pretty soon. All and all, if you excluded the bobbing for apples barrel, the night had been a success. And he didn't know why everyone was making such a big deal about certain things. Wasn't Mia allowed to let loose and have some fun too?

"There you are," Nikki said, coming around the corner. She smiled at him and held out her hand. "My money, please." Rowen sighed, making a face, but dug the combined winnings out of his pocket and gave it to her.

She looked so happy then, holding her money and smiling like she was the queen of the world. It was cute the way her angel wings had become bent and stuck out at weird angles.He hated to burst her bubble with the knowledge that Rowen had known all along she would share the money with Mia, and therefore would get her to wear the skimpy outfit. That the whole point of it was that it would drive the other guys nuts all night, and that that was the whole joke. He had planned on sharing this with her, but Nikki looked so proud that she had won. So he grumbled a little more, to make her feel good.

"Stop complaining," Nikki said, popping a stray cube of cheese in her mouth. "I won fair and square. Anyways, I'm going to bed." She turned around and started to walk away, then turned back.

"Hey Rowen?" she asked. "Would you hold on to this for me?" She held out the money. He arched an eyebrow at her.

"Why? Put it in your pocket."

Nikki smiled at him and started to move away again as she said, "Because I don't have any pockets under here." Rowen thought about that for a second. Then Nikki turned around and winked at him. Rowen gave her a wolfish grin and jumped forward, chasing her as Nikki fled laughing towards the stairs and up to her room.

-----

Kento finally immerged from the kitchen when the voices wound down, hoping that he could sneak off quietly to bed. Of course it was his luck that as soon as he left the kitchen he would run into Mia again. She was thankfully clothed, although still in the tiny costume she had worn all night. But at least everything was in place. She smiled at him, obviously still drunk, and swayed a little.

"Hey, Kento," she slurred. "I was going to get some water. Do you want some water…" Mia's eyes started to close halfway through the sentence and Kento reached out to steady her.

"You're smashed, Mia," Kento said. "You need sleep."

Mia leaned forward and put her head on his shoulder.

"Nope. Just water." Then she promptly fell asleep. Kento stood there for a moment, then sighed and wrapped his arm around her, picking her up. Ryo poked his head out of the living room where he'd been talking to Cassie and Cye.

"Is she okay?" Ryo asked, worried. Kento nodded.

"Just drunk. Can you grab one of those bottled waters for me?" Kento asked. Ryo nodded, going over to the food table. Ryo followed Kento up the stairs and helped him place the sleeping girl in her bed. Ryo tucked her blanket around her tightly, since the room had become a little cold. As they turned to leave, both men paused and looked around. The room was normal. Everything was fine. Mia would be safe. Then quietly the pair closed the door and left Mia to her peaceful dreams.

-----

The door closed, making the girl on the bed stir. She yawned and rolled over, reaching for the water she hoped was beside her bed. Mia's fingers brushed the bottle, knocking it off the nightstand.

"Crap," Mia muttered, swaying as she tried to lean over and pick it up.

"Here you go," _he_ whispered softly in her ear, pressing the bottle of water into her hand. Mia's eyes widened and she jerked backwards, away from the edge of the bed. Something sat down on the edge and started crawling towards her. With a small cry Mia backed herself up to the wall, shaking. Damian settled in front of her, leaning forward and grinning with that too large of grin.

"Did I miss the fun?"

_Happy Halloween everyone_.


End file.
